


Drunk - Bughead

by heytherejulietx



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Bughead fluff, F/M, Fluff, Medication, bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29568219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heytherejulietx/pseuds/heytherejulietx
Summary: A few faint voices could be heard on the line before an almost rustling noise followed, Veronica’s voice soon filing his ear instead. “Jughead listen-”“Is Betty okay?” He interrupted her as he frowned a little more. Betty had never even drank before, to his knowledge, and now she was drunk at a house party? Reggie Mantle’s house party? Of course he wouldn’t want to get in his girlfriend’s way of having fun, but she sounded pretty out of it when he had spoken to her, and he didn’t want her getting hurt or worse.“She’s a bit tipsy. And by that I mean B’s absolutely wasted, she sucks at beer pong by the way.” Veronica tutted. “She’s been asking for you for like an hour, she only just found her phone with her coat.”Jughead inhaled deeply through his nose and tipped his head back against the back of the sofa, trying not to get too annoyed or worried. Betty had wanted him for an hour whilst she was drunk and Veronica hadn’t called to tell him?“Give me Reggie’s address. I’m coming to get her.”In which Jughead takes care of his drunk girlfriend.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Kudos: 60





	Drunk - Bughead

After a while of Betty staying at the trailer on and off, it was always odd whenever she didn’t stay the night. Those were usually the nights that Jughead spent writing, when he wasn’t encased in the secure arms of the blonde goddess he was dating. It gave him the time alone to get fully immersed in his writing and the words that formed on the screen in front of him at every tap of his fingers against the keyboard. Usually he sped through his writing alone; unless he was with Betty or his friends he enjoyed silence so it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to it, though this night he couldn’t seem to write anything. His blank document stared back at him as he pressed his lips against white clenched knuckles, unable to focus. He had been getting an odd feeling all night - one where you just _knew_ something was wrong, and he hadn’t been able to shake it.

Before he could procrastinate any longer his phone buzzed on the coffee table beside his laptop as his ringtone swallowed the silence of the room, and he smiled slightly upon seeing it was his love calling. Before another loop of the obnoxious ringtone could fill the room he pressed answer and held the device against his ear.

“Juggie!” Betty pretty much yelled on the other end, earning a wince from Jughead at the volume, who held it a little away from his ear. “I miss you so much!” She giggled, her speech a little slurred together.

Jughead frowned. She had only meant to be staying at Veronica’s for the night, and it wasn't like the girls would drink together alone at the Pembrooke. “Are you drunk?” He asked anyways.

Betty simply giggled again, and it was then he could hear the generic pop song coming from the receiver as well as Betty’s voice, as well as a mix of conversation from other people. _Many_ other people. “Kinda.” She responded coyly. “I haven’t had _much_ to drink, Juggie, only a little.”

Jughead sighed and rubbed his free hand over his eyes as he leaned back in his seat. “You sound like you’ve had a lot. Are you at Veronica’s still? Can you put her on the phone?”

“Uh, no we’re at-” Betty cut herself off with a hiccup before she continued. “-Reggie’s house but Ronnie’s here!”

A few faint voices could be heard on the line before an almost rustling noise followed, Veronica’s voice soon filing his ear instead. “Jughead listen-”

“Is Betty okay?” He interrupted her as he frowned a little more. Betty had never even drank before, to his knowledge, and now she was drunk at a house party? _Reggie Mantle’s_ house party? Of course he wouldn’t want to get in his girlfriend’s way of having fun, but she sounded pretty out of it when he had spoken to her, and he didn’t want her getting hurt or worse.

“She’s a bit tipsy. And by that I mean B’s absolutely wasted, she sucks at beer pong by the way.” Veronica tutted. “She’s been asking for you for like an hour, she only just found her phone with her coat.”

Jughead inhaled deeply through his nose and tipped his head back against the back of the sofa, trying not to get too annoyed or worried. Betty had wanted him for an hour whilst she was drunk and Veronica hadn’t called to tell him?

“Give me Reggie’s address. I’m coming to get her.”

* * *

The thumping of the bass from the generic pop song drummed through the house as Jughead walked into the house, tucking the key’s of his dad’s truck into his jacket pocket. He didn’t even want to risk letting a drunk Betty onto his bike. Too many accidents would be just waiting to happen.

As he pushed through the crowd of dancing and laughing high school students, most of which he recognised from Riverdale High, Jughead couldn’t help but think back to his own sixteenth birthday party that Betty had thrown in his sophomore year. He just hoped that this night didn’t end as horribly.

Surprisingly it didn’t take too long to find Betty in the house full of intoxicated teenagers. After walking through the front of the house he ended up in the kitchen, where Betty and Veronica were alone, spare a couple of other students who were taking shots on the other side of the room. Betty was sat on the counter with a red solo cup in her hands; Veronica stood beside her with her own cup as she laughed away at something. He took in the state of his girlfriend as he crossed the room to meet her, noticing more details as he got closer, the first thing he noticed was the silver and blue dress she was wearing. It was most definitely an item that she didn’t have in her wardrobe - something that Alice Cooper would _highly_ disapprove of if she would have seen her daughter wearing it - so he had to guess the thigh length body-con came from Veronica. The next thing he noticed was her hair; blonde strands let loose over her shoulders and free from the usual ponytail, though it was slightly frizzy and more unkempt than he had seen it before, spare a few life-threatening situations that they had been in.

“Ladies.” Jughead sighed as he got to them, preparing himself for whatever drunken mess he was about to deal with, but he couldn’t help but smile slightly when he watched his girlfriend’s eyes light up when she saw him. 

“Juggie! You came!” Betty cheered excitedly, wobbling as she climbed off of the counter before she wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

“Mhm.” He nodded, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head as he moved an arm around her. “We’re going back to mine, okay? You can sleep over.”

As he was speaking to Betty, he noticed over her shoulder as Veronica grabbed her coat and handed it to him, the raven-haired boy mouthing a _thank you_ as he took it from her. 

“What?” Betty whined and leaned back to look up at him, causing her to wobble though Jughead tightened his arm around her waist to make sure she didn’t lose her balance and fall backwards. “We can’t go! You just got here!”

“I know, love, but we have to. It’s late and you’ll feel horrible in the morning as it is.” He sighed. “I’ll go out with you next weekend if you really want. Okay?”   
Betty looked like she was thinking about it for a moment as she tugged her glossed bottom lip between her teeth, before she just nodded and smiled. “Okay.” She giggled.

Jughead felt her hands slide underneath his unzipped jacket to rest against his sides as she leaned up a little to kiss him. He could smell the alcohol on her breath and could taste it on her lips as he kissed her, though refrained from deepening it any further and leaned his head back when Betty had tried to. She was very drunk and he wasn’t going to take advantage when she was in such a state.

“Come on, love. Let’s get you to bed.” Jughead pressed another kiss to her temple before he pulled away and handed Betty her coat, thanking Veronica as she slipped it on before he splayed his palm against the small of her back and led her out of the house.

“Did you have a good time?” He asked once they were in the quiet of the outside, slipping his arm around her waist when she kept wobbling to the point of worrying him that she would fall.

“Yeah.” Betty giggled and nodded. “Ronnie heard about the party and said we should go and it was-” She hiccuped again. “-really fun! I’m great at the ball game.”

“The ball game?” He tipped his head to the side to look at her as he got the truck keys out of his pocket to unlock the vehicle.

“Yeah! Y’know, the one with all the red cups and you’ve gotta drink the drinks. Cup basketball?”

“You mean beer pong?” Jughead asked with an amused smile.

“Yeah! Cup basketball!” She giggled.

Jughead chuckled and shook his head as he opened the passenger side door for Betty, gently gripping her forearm to help her into the seat and clipped her seatbelt, before he shut the door and joined her on the driver’s side.

“What does this do?” He heard her ask and looked over at her to see her messing with the lever beside her seat that adjusted it.

“It tips your seat back.” Jughead told her, and had to keep from laughing when she yanked the lever and tipped her seat all the way back so she was laying down.

Jughead started the car once he’d looked away from her and buckled his seatbelt, driving away from Reggie’s house soon after. He was surprised to find that the majority of the journey back to the South Side was in silence, with how talkative Betty had been inside, but every time he risked a glance her way she was just staring out of the window and watched the cars pass by their own. At some point she had reached her hand up and made a grabby motion towards his, and he smiled softly as he gently laced his fingers with hers and kept his other on the steering wheel.

“Juggie?” He heard from beside him just as he started driving into the South Side, humming in acknowledgement as he gave her hand a light squeeze. “Did you know that if you close your eyes… if you close your eyes you can’t see.” She giggled, and upon turning to look at her he could see that Betty had her eyes squeezed shut tightly.

“Really?” He asked simply just to amuse her, fondly rolling his eyes as he looked back at the road. “Fascinating.”   
“I just blew your mind, didn’t I?” Betty asked and Jughead had to suppress a chuckle as he nodded.

“You sure did, sweetheart. You always do.”

By this point Jughead had pulled into the trailer park and parked the truck beside where his motorbike was, shutting off the engine before he unbuckled his seatbelt. “Let’s get you to bed, okay?” Betty simply hummed in response so Jughead got out of the car and walked around to her side and opened her door for her. She was still just laying down when he had gotten there so he leaned across her to unbuckle her seatbelt before he gently took her hands to help her sit up again.

“Hey!” Betty gasped oncs she’d sat up, a sudden burst of energy filling her. “You live here!” She leaned forwards to point at the trailer though leaned too far forwards and almost fell out of her seat, if it wasn’t for Jughead who had quickly moved his hands to her hips to steady her. 

“Easy, love.” He chuckled and helped her out of the truck carefully before he returned his arm around her waist to keep her steady as he locked the vehicle behind him.

Betty stumbled beside him as he helped her up the stairs of the trailer and inside once had the door open, letting it close behind him. His laptop and notes were still strewn messily across the coffee table from earlier in the evening though he gave it no notice as he led his girlfriend through the small space to his bedroom, where she had slept a countless amount of times before.

“Juggie?” Betty giggled in what almost sounded like a sultry tone once they had reached the bedroom, and it caused Jughead to raise his eyebrows at her as he turned his head to look down at her with a hum of acknowledgement.

Betty didn’t return with an audible response, and instead slipped her hands underneath his jacket again as she leaned up to kiss him just like she had done at the party. Though unlike the party she moved her hands to grip the lapels of his jacket and pulled him closer against herself, deepening the kiss before he could pull away. Jughead groaned lowly into her mouth as her teeth nipped at her bottom lip and as much as he didn’t want to, he moved his hands to rest on either side of his face as he pulled away with a sigh.

“Betty, you’re drunk.” He stated with a newly found seriousness that he hadn’t had in the car.

“So?” Betty whined and leaned up on her tiptoes again, only to be met with his hands on her hips to keep her at a slight distance.

“So I’m not going to take advantage of you whilst you’re drunk.” Jughead explained, and watched as she frowned though nodded her head. 

He sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before he looked down at her as he took his hands away from her as he slipped his jacket off of his shoulders.

“We’ll get you changed and into bed, okay? Then you can sleep, you must be tired.” He said softly, tilting his head a little as he looked at her. 

“I’m not tired.” Betty defended with a giggle and shook her head, though Jughead simply raised his eyebrows at her, his expression screaming _I don’t believe you._

“Whatever you say, love, let’s just get you changed anyways okay? That dress can’t be too comfortable.” He lightly brushed his hand across one of the straps before he pulled away from her and walked across the room to grab one of his shirts for her to sleep in. 

“It’s Veronica’s.” Betty told him simply as he walked back over to her with the shirt. 

“I know, love, it’s not your usual style.” Jughead chuckled and nodded, before he placed the shirt on the edge of his bed and lightly touched her arm. “Need help getting this off?”

“Mhm? There’s a zipper.” Betty nodded. “Just don’t break it because Veronica won’t be too happy.” Betty giggled, and wobbled a little though for the most part she stayed completely still as Jughead moved behind her to unzip the dress and slipped the straps off of her shoulders, letting the material pool at her feet. 

“Want this off too?” Jughead asked as he lightly touched the side of her bra, knowing it would just be uncomfortable for her to sleep in though he still wanted to check. He waited for Betty to nod in confirmation before he carefully unclasped the clips and let it drop to the floor with the dress, an action he’d done countless times before, just in a different situation. “Okay, arms up beautiful.” He tapped her upper arm as he grabbed his shirt before he stood back in front of her again, helping her arms through the sleeves once she had held them up before her head through it too, pulling it down so it’d be on her properly. 

“Hey this is yours.” She giggled and gestured to the shirt once she had it on, causing him to fondly roll his eyes again as he nodded. 

“Yeah it’s mine.” He chuckled, as if he hadn’t been holding the shirt before. 

Jughead helped her step out of the dress before he sat her on the edge of her bed, handing her an unopened water bottle that was on his side. “Here, love.” He opened the cap for her before he moved across the room to gather her clothes neatly for her to get the day after. 

By the time he’d come back to Betty she’d gulped half of the water and was trying to put the lid back on, which he helped her with when he saw her struggling to do just that. Looking at her expression he couldn’t tell if she was sobering up or not, but she was definitely tired, noted by the dropping of her eyelids every so often before she forced them open again. 

Jughead placed the bottle of water on the bedside table before he pulled back the covers and helped Betty get into the bed, her eyelids drooping again as her head hit the pillow. “I’ll be back in a moment, Juliet.” He pressed a kiss against her forehead and watched as she nodded before he pulled the covers up and stepped out of the room for a moment. 

After years of dealing with his dad’s drinking, he knew how bad the hangover would be for Betty. And he knew it would probably be worse considering it was her first time drinking. Jughead stepped into the extremely small bathroom of the trailer and turned on the light, ignoring as it flickered as he opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a pill bottle of Tylenol that hadn’t been used since he needed them after facing the gauntlet. He checked the dosage on the back of the pot just to be sure before he tipped out two into his hand and put the pot back into the cabinet and closed it, shutting off the light as he made his way back into his bedroom. 

A soft smile painted across his lips when he saw Betty peacefully asleep, thankful he wasn’t going to have to convince her of that too. He carefully dropped the pills on the bedside table beside the bottle of water before he got changed into his own pyjamas and got into the bed beside her after he shut off the light, not taking too long to fall asleep himself once he’d pulled Betty closer and held her until he drifted off.

* * *

He was woken the next morning by a quiet groan in his ear, and blinked a little as he came to his senses. Betty gripped onto his white tank top as she pressed her face against his neck, another quiet groan leaving her lips as she used her free hand to rub the side of her head. Jughead frowned at the state of her, realising she had a headache. 

“Hey,” he whispered, and although she didn’t look at him he knew she’d heard him, her head tilting slightly at the sound of his voice. “You okay?”

“No,” Betty whimpered, sounding close to tears, which made him frown a bit more. “It feels like I got hit in the head really hard.”

“I’m sorry love.” Jughead sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before he pulled away from her just enough to reach up and grab the bottle and Tylenol. “Take these.”

Betty turned her head and sat up to take them, her eyebrows knitted together as she sat up properly. “Thank you.” She mumbled as she put the pills in her mouth, having some water to swallow them before she placed the water back down as she sighed and rubbed her temples with her palms. 

Jughead laid back into the bed and held his arm out for her to settle into, smiling softly once she was pressed against his side and in his arms. His arm curled around her waist to bring her closer as his free hand lifted up to brush some loose blonde strands out of her eyes, the action causing her eyes to flutter shut. “Do you remember any of last night?”

“Some of it.” Betty whispered in response, opening her eyes back up to look at him as she moved one of her arms around his waist to stay even closer to him. “It’s all a bit fuzzy. I don’t remember getting into bed.” She sighed and shook her head before she winced. “I didn’t say anything stupid, did I?”

“No,” Jughead shook his head as he started smirking a little. “But hey, did you know that if you close your eyes you can’t see?” He asked teasingly and chuckled. 

Betty groaned as she hid her head against his neck again, causing him to laugh a little more. “I’m sorry.” She whined. 

“It’s fine, love, it was pretty funny.” He chuckled. 

“No, I’m sorry about all of it.” Betty clarified, and this time Jughead’s expression softened a little. 

“It’s nothing, Betts. I wasn’t just going to leave you at Reggie’s place alone and drunk.”

“Yeah but…” Betty trailed off and sighed, something that kept Jughead’s attention as he waited for her to form the words. “I know what you went through with your dad drinking and I’m sorry I was like that, I shouldn’t have called you in the first place it was stupid of me, I-“

“Hey hey hey,” Jughead cut off her rambling with a gentle hand on the side of her face, guiding her eyes up to meet his. “You don’t need to apologise, sweetheart. You and my dad are completely different things, okay? It didn’t bother me.” He explained, and watched as she visibly relaxed at his answer. 

“Okay.” She sighed and smiled in relief. 

“I love you, I’ll always be there to take care of you.” Jughead smiled and leaned down to lightly kiss her for a long moment, feeling warm at the soft expression on her face once he’d pulled away. 

“I love you too.” Betty whispered and nodded. “Thank you for coming to get me.”

“It’s no problem, love.” Jughead shook his head, pressing his lips against her forehead. “Any time.”


End file.
